'Ban dirty coal' says government environment watchdog

The Environment Agency has told the government that all new power stations must be built with the CO2-capturing technology
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday September 25 2008 00:01 BST

The UK government's own environmental watchdog has called for a halt to the construction of a new generation of coal-fired power stations unless they are built with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology installed from the outset.
The comments, made as part of the Environment Agency's official response to the government's consultation on CCS, also urged faster progress in proving that the technology was commercially viable.
"Building a new generation of coal fired power stations without capturing the carbon emissions would lock the UK into using high carbon technology for decades to come," said Chris Smith, a former Labour cabinet minister and the newly-appointed chairman of the Environment Agency.
"This is not an environmentally sustainable way of generating power given the challenges we face with climate change."
Earlier this year, the Environment Agency wrote to energy secretary John Hutton, warning that any coal plants built before CCS was available must not be allowed to "undermine future carbon budgets and targets". It added, "This is likely to mean that the station is forced to fit CCS in the future or close."
Carbon capture
CCS is a range of technologies that can trap carbon dioxide from power stations and industrial sites, then transport and store them in geological formations deep underground.
It has the potential to make a big impact in reducing global carbon emissions - at its best, CCS could prevent 90% of the CO2 emitted by power stations from getting into the atmosphere.
The UK government launched a competition last year to fund a commercial-scale demonstration CCS project but this is unlikely to be built before 2013 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, last month, the Swedish power company Vatenfall inaugurated the world's first demonstration project where CCS was attached to a power station - its Schwarze Pumpe power plant in north Germany will store 100,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
"Although carbon capture and storage technology has been demonstrated on a small scale, there is now an urgent need for it to be demonstrated on a commercial scale," said Smith.
"Any new coal power station to be built should have a consent that requires that it helps demonstrate the technology. Such a consent should be strictly time limited and only renewed if carbon capture and storage is fully deployed."
'Clear rebuke'
Greenpeace climate campaigner Jim Footner said: "This carefully timed intervention is a clear rebuke to business secretary John Hutton and his plans for a conventional, coal fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.
"As head of the environment agency, Lord Smith knows more than most about the devastating impacts that climate change could have on Britain's coastlines and vulnerable communities.
"By objecting to new coal projects unless they use carbon capture technology from the outset, he is simply aligning himself with the views of the world's top climate scientists."
He added: "Instead of going back to coal, we need a revolution in the renewables industry and a step change in our approach to energy efficiency.
"This country has the best renewable resources in Europe, now all we need is for Gordon Brown to step in and show some real leadership on this issue."
In its submission to the government's CCS consultation, which closed for submissions on Monday, the Environment Agency added that merely being "carbon capture ready", where a plant is built ready to install CCS equipment after it begins operations, was not good enough.
"Coal-fired power stations will for a considerable time continue to be a significant part of global energy supply," said Smith.
"However, we need to ensure that they are part of a solution to the challenges of climate change, not a problem.
"This is only possible by ensuring carbon capture and storage is quickly proven in line with the prime minister's recent commitment to clean coal technology. A funding mechanism will be urgently needed to support this development."